Ice Festival

This past weekend was the annual Ice Festival in town.  Nana Margie and Papa John came to visit for the snowy weekend festivities.

I bundled the kiddos up in their snow geared and we all tramped around town checking out the stores, the ice sculptures, and interacting with the visitors.  We lucked out with the weather...just above freezing, no wind, and no additional snow. 
Tamlin was all for it, though Jude had a rough morning and decided that Brown Monster was an essential companion for this excursion.  Note Tam's awesome knit hat, which was mine, brought back from Ecuador back in 2000!

The ice sculptures were awesome looking; I didn't know they could add in color for emphasis.   We saw logos, jumping dolphins, lighthouses, Olaf from the Frozen movie, and even a pair of legs kicking in the air (for a varicose vein company).



We, of course, had to take a photo the YMCA ice sculpture :-)  The boys love going there for daycare / school.  And we all love the teachers who work there.

There were several wintery characters walking around and mingling with the crowds.  The boys got to say hello to Frosty the Snowman (Jude wasn't too sure about him).  They also got hugs from Princess Elsa from Frozen.  We also waved to a wandering penguin.

There were awesomely huge piles of snow that just begged to be conquered.  The boys became mountain-climbers and scaled these tall mountains...only to turn and slide down the slopes after reaching the summit.

We did detour from the snow to the library for the chocolate tasting.  Unfortunately, we arrived on the late side after much of the chocolate had been devoured.  We did manage to snag a few samples of home-made chocolate goodies, including some very yummy chocolate pizzels.  I was glad to see the library so busy and able to raise a good chunk of change with this fund-raiser. 

 This was a recurring theme, as they clambered up more snow piles all around town. Yep.. here's a snow pile that was nearly as tall as the lamppost.

After all this cold walking around, we needed hot beverages.  We stopped at our local coffee/tea shop to warm up.  Their hot chocolate is divine, as is their hot teas.  Yummy!

We had to stop by the beach to admire the cold, frozen, Lake Erie.  I love living here and seeing the Lake go through all of these seasons.  Currently the Lake is frozen, so the littles were able to walk a bit away from the shore.  They had a blast climbing a snow-fort and rolling snowballs around.  The adults hung back on the deck to admire the peaceful, quiet view.

Through the course of the entire morning, Tamlin had been creating a snowball out of scoops of snow he had snagged from any random drift he passed.  He lugged his creation around like it was a precious baby.  He even worried about it breaking or being smashed when he left it outside when we went into shops.  He did have a moment of panic when it had a minor split on the beach...but luckily snow is easily smooshed back together.  I did draw the line at taking his prized snowball in the car to home.  We compromised by finding the perfect spot for it to hang out: near a huge snow pile and fire-hydrant.  The boys insisted on a photo to remember the moment.

Overall, it was a great morning in a great little town.

Active Imaginations

 At this time of year, we ship orchids in boxes surrounded with a thermal blanket to keep them warm.  These silver thermal blankets are huge, and are usually just tossed when they are done being used.  I saw the cool silver fabric as something to make space-suits out of or mermaid tales.


I brought it into the house and the boys had a blast with it! 

First we threw it over a card table and it made a huge silver tent / bear cave/ hide-out.

The next day, they pulled the fabric off and placed it on its side.  Now it was a dark tunnel / race track.  They crawled around under/through it pretending to get lost inside.

The next day, the box was tipped upside down and they crawled and pulled up the sides over their heads.  Now it was a boat / tent/ magic disappearing box.
 

I still might eventually use it for space-suits too...

We also had the marble tracks out lately.  Jude placed several of the pieces up to his mouth and pretended to have a trumpet!  He went around singing into his new plastic instrument. Tamlin got in on the action and made his own elaborate pipe.  I think they both made instruments that look like something out of a Dr. Seuss story.

Silly boys..
I had to follow up this day with reading them the Jabberwocky poem.

And we had a lively discussion on what Galumphing means :-)

Sewing projects

My aunt passed on a few of her dresses to me for possible re-use.  I tucked a few of the crinoline beauties away for a bit, perhaps for little Elizabeth when she gets older.  However, this silk number gave me a thoughtful pause.  I very much admired the simplicity and the handiwork ...a silk short gown with a lace overlay at the top with masterful little darts at waist and bust for fitting. 

Since I had been watching Downton Abbey's latest season, I was quite inspired by the turn of the centuries gowns.  With a bit of fringe....and a bit of tucks...and a bit of hemming....
And a willing little model...

 A flapper dress for my neice :-)  I'll hem the  bottom and throw in some elbow length gloves :-)
Not the same as a flouncy princess dress, but so fun to shimmy in!
(Yes, Tam was photo bombed by daddy and brother)

Tamlin's also holding my quick weekend project: A sock monster.  I had sewn a second monster for Jude some months ago when we thought we had lost is original brown monster. Brown monster was eventually found, but he still had "New monster" too.  Jude LOVES his monsters, and brown monster in particular is quite thread-bare from extra love. Tam then started asking for a second monster too.  Well, because of the snowstorm, we were home-bound and I was willing to sew.  Tamlin picked out the purple socks and the basic shape of the monster.  I even suffered through all the handsewing to finish this fun little guy by Sunday evening bed time.  Tam's very pleased.

And a final shot from our pre-bedtime photo shoot...

Finally we get some snow...and snow...and snow

 Our big snowstorm of the 2014-2015 winter has struck and we now have snow.  We have enough of the white fluff that we stayed in from church and from going to 'Bula to see the family today.  By late afternoon, the boy were going mad in the house so I geared them up and tossed them outside.  Brian followed them so that he could clear the driveway.  He was excited to finally use his new snowblower for only the 2nd time this season.

Man, that little snowblower is quiet  and Tam enjoyed the snow shower a couple of times.

All of them lasted outside only a short time before little fingers and noses got too cold.

The snow continued to fall into the evening, so we'll see if the littles have school in the morning.

Pokemon

 Pokemon.
I had no idea this card game was still popular.
Tamlin asked for and received cards for Christmas.  He only vaguely knows how to play, but enjoys trying the game with anyone who will sit with him.
Jude just likes flipping the cards over and looking at the animals.

Welcome 2015!

Here we are...
Another year...
At least we are all together!

Aspirations for this year?

Find a church family.
Get the boys involved in some more activities.
Revive my craftiness.
Grow a garden again.
Camping!


And New Year's Eve?
I thought it would be fun to go to the party at the zoo...they celebrate Noon Year's Eve :-)

Except it was frigid!
Within the first 5 minutes, Jude is crying because he hates having his hat tied under his chin...and he hates being cold...REALLY HATES BEING COLD.


And then Tam gets upset because he doesn't want to leave because Jude is crying.

Sigh.

They did both like doing the crafts in the heated pavilions.

And riding the carosel.

And we did make it to the count down and ball drop :-)